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UConn Not Unanimous #1 in Final Coaches Poll

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pap49cba said:
FWIW, Sagarin's final ratings ranking after today's update...

Uconn
Baylor
ND
Duke
Stanford
Kentucky
Maryland
Tennessee
Penn St.
Louisville
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And it is worth something because Sagarin doesn't always have the national champ at #1. Losses notwithstanding, Uconn had a ton of skins on the wall this season.
 
RPI rankings, AP polls, even Sagarin are kind of beside the point when the seasons ends. There are baseball purists who still pine for the good old simple and clean days when you just had an NL pennant winner and AL pennant winner in the post season and none of those wild card teams that got hot in September after muddling through the first 5 months were allowed into the October classic. Rankings can be weird stuff this time of year because you find yourself saying that a team with 9 losses and a much worse schedule should be ranked higher than a team with two losses and the top schedule. Finals rankings are only done so that the pollsters can cover their butts for not having anointed the NC winner as #1 before the tourney started. There are really two seasons, but the rankings we really care about in the end are the results in those NCAA brackets.
 
There were supposed "experts" who thought Slaughter would best KML and that Lville is better than they are. They were a good team that had one huge upset and hung on to win all of their last three wins including Baylor, while UConn was trampling everyone. They established Jeff Walz as a defensive genius, when no team played better defense than UConn. Some people who theoretically should know better have a hard time seeing what's in front of their faces.
 
UConnCat said:
Charlotte Smith played for UNC and made the winning shot in the national championship game in 1994.
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Yea, there it was, I knew that name sounded familiar.
 
Polls after a championship game are completely worthless. Don't pay attention to them. UCONN earned the number one spot by playing the game. End of story.
 
It is a shame that the refs swallowed their whistle in the Baylor/Louisville game. Otherwise we would have actually had a real championship game. We will never know what would have happened.
 
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easttexastrash said:
It is a shame that the refs swallowed their whistle in the Baylor/Louisville game. Otherwise we would have actually had a real championship game. We will never know what would have happened.
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I think you're a great poster - it's not always easy remaining civil on an opponent's message board, so I give you major props for that.

But I think this post is absolutely ridiculous.

UConn just pummeled Louisville by 33 points. Baylor lost because they didn't take the game seriously until there were about 10 minutes left, not because of a few calls. Had Griner and co. shown up from the beginning, the refs wouldn't have mattered.
 
So she is punishing UConn because Baylor choked. Yeah, that seems right.
 
UConn990411 said:
I think you're a great poster - it's not always easy remaining civil on an opponent's message board, so I give you major props for that.

But I think this post is absolutely ridiculous.

UConn just pummeled Louisville by 33 points. Baylor lost because they didn't take the game seriously until there were about 10 minutes left, not because of a few calls. Had Griner and co. shown up from the beginning, the refs wouldn't have mattered.
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Agreed. I like you too eastexas and I have great respect for Baylor, I like their program and fans and I do think Mulkey is a good coach, but if I were a Baylor fan I'd be pretty angry last night. Not at the refs but at my coach. Physical play on Griner and bad officiating did not leave Slaughter wide open to make what was it, ten 3's against you? It didn't let Shoni go showtime for 40 minutes. UConn pretty much showed last night it was not that hard to lock down on Louisville if you put the effort and focus into it. I don't think Baylor did that. I think they were over confident and by the time they woke up it was too late. They were throwing down slam dunks on Florida State the game before having a ball. I think they overlooked Louisville.

I listen to Auriemma like a hawk when he speaks in his press conferences. One of the most revealing comments he made on Monday was when he expressed disbelief that Slaughter had been able to continue to be left so wide open during the Baylor game when she was killing you, the Tennessee game, and the Cal game. He said Jeff must be a genius for her to be that wide open. Of course that is classic Geno. I think he was bewildered these other coaching staffs allowed this to continue to happen. He said last night he was going to stick on Slaughter/Shimmel and force someone else to beat them. He could live with Hammond getting points as long as Slaughter/Shimmel did not get open looks. And they didn't.

It wasn't rocket science either. I am pretty glad Kim didn't figure it out. I have respect for Kim don't get me wrong east. But I'd be far more pissed at her than the refs after last night.
 
Dang. Baylor must have some dirt on Charlotte Smith. Jeez. A vote for Baylor? Wow.
 
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easttexastrash said:
It is a shame that the refs swallowed their whistle in the Baylor/Louisville game.
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Swollowed their whistle? They blew it the entire second half. Except when Mulkey went berzerk and should have been T'd up. Three Card starters fouled out. The fact is your star didn't step up in winning time, including (especially) that last defensive play. UConn blew out every team they played.
 
Baylor had probably the best team. They had Sims and Griner but they didn't win the title.
 
It is difficult to run through a single elimination tournament no matter how good you are. Baylor simply did not play well against Louisville. The officiating was questionable, but when you have an all-american PG and one of the most unique and dominant posts of all time (not to mention a cast of talented role players), the officiating shouldn't have made a difference. It is too bad Baylor didn't make it through, but UConn played the opponents it was given. Louisville, meanwhile, certainly earned their spot in the finals by beating Tennessee and Cal after the Baylor win, not to mention beating B1G tourney champion Purdue beforehand.

Them's the breaks. UConn has had a couple of NC opportunities slip away, too. By consistently fielding teams that are in the hunt, Geno has been able to win a bunch just the same.
 
ASweet3781 said:
I listen to Auriemma like a hawk when he speaks in his press conferences. One of the most revealing comments he made on Monday was when he expressed disbelief that Slaughter had been able to continue to be left so wide open during the Baylor game when she was killing you, the Tennessee game, and the Cal game. He said Jeff must be a genius for her to be that wide open. Of course that is classic Geno. I think he was bewildered these other coaching staffs allowed this to continue to happen. He said last night he was going to stick on Slaughter/Shimmel and force someone else to beat them. He could live with Hammond getting points as long as Slaughter/Shimmel did not get open looks. And they didn't.
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Yeah, but that's kind of hind-sight strategy thinking.

Slaughter was okay during the season at 36% and an average of 1.5 a game for the 3s, but that's not somebody Kim is going to set up a "stop the Slaughter at all costs" defense. Slaughter basically hit Baylor pretty much out of the blue with her onslaught(er). Yes, the Bears' defense needed to react better during the game and get back out on Schimmel (who took 4 more 3-pt attempts than Slaughter) and on Slaughter, but they just didn't check out on the perimeter well enough. Holly Warlick was apparently warned well enough for the Vols to limit the Cards' 3s to 35% with Slaughter going 1-6, but UTenn still lost. Geno was completely forewarned following the Baylor and Cal games and said simply that Louisville was not going to use the 3 to beat the Huskies. But he also had Kelly (and Breanna), and Kim didn't.
 
easttexastrash said:
It is a shame that the refs swallowed their whistle in the Baylor/Louisville game. Otherwise we would have actually had a real championship game. We will never know what would have happened.
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I really can't stand a cry baby in sports. Take care of it on the court. Let's analyze the Louisville games properly. Ten minutes to go: Baylor was down about 18 points ..... UCONN was up about 30 points going away. Five minutes to go: Baylor down about 10 points and closing... UCONN up about 35 points with second team getting some time. One minute to go: Baylor down by four.... UCONN up by 34 with a Heather Buck steal and driving the full court for a score and team goes crazy. Zero on the clock: Sims on the floor crying, Griner next to her. Walz congratulating Geno for an eighth National Championship. Interviews after the game: Mulkey blaming the refs for losing...... Geno praising Louisville for a tremendous tournament run. Maybe you should take a poll of the Louisville players and ask them who should be National Champion. Wait a minute, we don't have to do that. UCONN is National Champion!!!!

Kelly Faris is Superwoman in disguise!!​
 
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stwainfan said:
Baylor had probably the best team. They had Sims and Griner but they didn't win the title.
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Two players make a team? Uconn had the best team...no probably about it. They had Faris, Doty, Buck, Dolson, Hartley, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stokes, Banks, Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck and they won the title.
 
I gave you credit for winning the championship and you still did earn that title in spite of the crap posted here. Baylor lost to Louisville for multiple reasons. The mauling that the refs allowed certainly was a factor in the loss. We should have overcome, because we didn't prevented UCONN from playing in a close title game. It would have been fun to watch. It is Baylor's fault that it didn't happen.
 
From OldGrizzly " Baylor lost to Louisville for multiple reasons. The mauling that the refs allowed certainly was a factor in the loss. "


That's okay, Louisville was able to overcome the maulings and win. Stop the crying and finger pointing and accept that they got beat.
 
stwainfan said:
Baylor had probably the best team. They had Sims and Griner but they didn't win the title.
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What lunacy!!!!!! Baylor had the best team????????????????? You mention two players to justify that statement. UConn had five players plus an able bench that contributed to make them the BEST TEAM. The best team doesn't get eliminated in the Sweet 16, does it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make a little sense!!!!!!!!!!!
 
DobbsRover2 said:
Yeah, but that's kind of hind-sight strategy thinking.

Slaughter was okay during the season at 36% and an average of 1.5 a game for the 3s, but that's not somebody Kim is going to set up a "stop the Slaughter at all costs" defense. Slaughter basically hit Baylor pretty much out of the blue with her onslaught(er). Yes, the Bears' defense needed to react better during the game and get back out on Schimmel (who took 4 more 3-pt attempts than Slaughter) and on Slaughter, but they just didn't check out on the perimeter well enough. Holly Warlick was apparently warned well enough for the Vols to limit the Cards' 3s to 35% with Slaughter going 1-6, but UTenn still lost. Geno was completely forewarned following the Baylor and Cal games and said simply that Louisville was not going to use the 3 to beat the Huskies. But he also had Kelly (and Breanna), and Kim didn't.
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Boy, when is the silliness going to stop. You can justify the first 3 point shot or two but how long does it take to understand, "hey, my players aren't guarding the perimeter and we need to focus on the 3 point line". Why did it take 30 minutes of game time or roughly an hour and twenty minutes to realize "we are being hurt by those guys making those shots". UConn's defense without a word from Geno would never have allowed those guys those open looks. They learned their roles in preseason practice. Geno didn't all of a sudden realize, my gosh, we'd better get our guys to defend this dangerous team and their three point game. Dear Kim should have kicked her team's butts after the eight minute mark of the first half to get them in gear (if not sooner). These are college students, not imbeciles, right??????? Why do they need any kind of instruction on understanding who is hurting them offensively and what they need to do about it.
 
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IMO Baylor with Griner the best and most dominate player and SImms the best point guard and one NC. I have to wonder what the problem was. Questions that need to be answered. Were Simms and Griner developed over their 4 years? Were the rest of the team developed over their 4 years? Was their team chemistry? What went wrong? I would think BU should've one more NCs with two of the most dominating players in the game. No BU is not number 1. Anyplace in the polls but number 1. IMO playing LVille and not getting out to defend the 3 with Griner underneath was the blame and you can place it on the coaches and team. JMO
 
Ozzie Nelson said:
Difficult for to believe that any coach sees games as played in the head and not on the floor.
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I think Red Auerbach said it:

"If winning isn't important, why keep score?"​
 
UConn was #1 when it counted. Did they have the best team? On April 9th they did. After the Big East Tournament, they did. IMO, prior to that, it is open for discussion. ND beat them 3 times this season (and it doesn't really matter that some of you feel that UConn lost those games themselves - rather than ND beating them, it was still 3 losses). Baylor also beat them. Both ND and Baylor had good teams that played with team chemistry. Both have excellent coaches. But when it mattered most - UConn was the the best team, with a coach that is currently the best in the business.
 
The winner of the Final 4 is the best team...period...if not, then why the tournament?

Post-hoc polls and what ifs are redundant, sour grapes, or just plain stooopid.
 
UConnCat said:
Charlotte Smith (coach at Elon) voted Baylor #1.

"I don't know whether the stars aligned for them (Louisville) in the universe. But I feel that had (Baylor) gotten by Louisville, Baylor would've been national champions," Smith said.

Okay then.

Top 10:

  1. UConn
  2. ND
  3. Louisville
  4. Baylor
  5. Cal
  6. Duke
  7. Stanford
  8. Kentucky
  9. Tennessee
  10. Georgia
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...l-baylor-connecticut-charlotte-smith/2070465/
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Then Charlotte should understand that her team shouldn't have been ranked #1 after her NC because Stephanie Lawerence travelled on that out of bounds play that led to her 3 point shot. Probably the worst piece of officiating I've seen in the NCAA tournament. She's an idiot.
 
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